Eagles Pushing Recruiting To The Limit

The week after Memorial Day brought familiar scenes to the Boston College football Twitterverse. Head coach Jeff Hafley's account posted an eagle capturing prey before recruiting coordinator Joe Sullivan followed with an image of rapper Rick Ross. The memes, a known tool to announce the coming of a new recruit, summarily sent waves through fans and followers as a harbinger of good news to come.

Normally, the scene would play out with a lightning bolt of excitement. That week, though, was very different. It happened again and again as commitments streamed into Boston College's social sphere, interrupting dinner plans and nighttime television viewing.

"I see this thing down the road having really, really special moments," Hafley said last month when talking about his BC vision. "People are going to talk about us in the ACC, and I'm very confident about that. I want people behind me that believe that. And if people don't believe that, I don't want them around."

Spring and summer are normally frenetic months for college football coaches operating under normal circumstances. Spring practice's conclusion segues into offseason recruiting cycles, and the seamless transition moves them along a timeline for roster development. It serves as a litmus test of the program's current status as coaches look into their crystal ball for future prospects who can make both immediate and long-term impacts.

The entire pace, though, is considerably different this year. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis forced college closures with the cessation of NCAA activities, and the governing body instituted a mandatory dead period for all sports. In mid-May, the NCAA extended the timeline to the end of June, meaning new mediums and virtual environments replaced traditional coaching habits.

Gone were the visits where recruits saw campuses and facilities. Coaching visits to hometowns vanished. For Hafley, a coach long priding himself on personal values and in-person connections, it presented an unwelcome hurdle. It formed an obstacle, one his coaching staff, like-minded in their approach to infusing student-athletes with new energy from Chestnut Hill, overcame by adaptation and commitment to the program.

"I've been able to adapt teaching styles because of the players I've been around," defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu said. "I've been in the FCS, the SEC, the Big East, and each area calls for different areas of teaching. There are different techniques. That's helped me enhance my skills as a teacher, and I know which schemes are going to be more effective based upon the type of player that you have. You have to tailor fit what you do based on the personnel, and that's (the same) at the NFL, big colleges, or small school football.

It's creating a blunt force of Boston-based football. The Eagles jumped more than 30 places in 247sports' composite rankings for 2021 compared to its last three years. The 2018, 2019 and 2020 classes that all stood in the 60s are now pushing into the 20s nationally. The conference rank, once considered 13th in the ACC, is now up into the middle tier. It owes to a combination of factors, chief among them the ability to infuse the typical mold of "BC recruit" with a new, dynamic potency.

"The one thing I always thought about BC is that guys that get drafted turn out to be really good NFL players," Hafley said. "They're smart, tough, reliable, and very accountable. They work hard, and you know what you're getting. If you look at the guys in the league, all of those coaches will tell you that they love those guys, and people look hard at BC players."

Conceptualizing BC's traditional recruit isn't difficult because the institution offers a unique draw to power college football. Its steady hand was never really flashy, which in turn cost reputation points whenever recruits committed. Players turned into "diamonds in the rough" because the recruiting services overlooked the recruits' abilities.

"I think there's just as many skill players up here in the Northeast," Lukabu said, "but the number of big, athletic defensive line or offensive line players (might not be) as abundant. But a kid that has a passion for football in the South or in Florida and the kid that loves football in the Northeast - there is no difference. If you bring the passion and love and hunger to the game and a little bit of the right DNA, you'll be okay."

Those types of recruits will always form the bedrock foundation of BC, and the raw players with chips on their shoulders will always have a home in Chestnut Hill. The program, though, is now moving forward with rapid momentum built by Hafley's innovation and creativity, and it's reinforcing how the new coaches are adapting perfectly to life without their traditional recruiting styles.

"I was very aggressive in wanting to be a part of the situation here (at BC)," Lukabu said. "I know who Jeff is. He's not afraid to put himself out there to try new things. He wants to tell guys to be aggressive, especially in practice. I think some great things can come from failures. You don't want (schemes) to (fail) on Saturdays, but that's the philosophy we have. It's going to carry us a long way."

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